


Out Of Time

by kcstories



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: Community: rarepair_shorts, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-15
Updated: 2010-03-15
Packaged: 2017-10-08 00:31:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/70867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kcstories/pseuds/kcstories
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ginny wakes up to a startling discovery.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Out Of Time

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N:** Originally written in the summer of 2008 for the Rarepair_shorts Summer Fic-a-thon.  
> **Disclaimer:** The Potterverse is JKR's, not mine. Written for fun, not profit.  
> **Pairing:** Ginny Weasley / James Potter Senior (Background of Severus/Lily, mention of past Harry/Ginny)  
> **Warnings:** AU-ish. Time travel.

After what feels like an eternity of sleep, the first thing Ginny is aware of is a heavy pounding in her head.

She flinches against the pain and struggles to remember what happened. Was there some kind of accident? Did she get hit by an off course Bludger and fall off her broom?

Try though she might, she cannot recall such an occurrence, and perhaps she really shouldn't be thinking this hard either, because her skull already feels as though it might split right in two.

Keeping her eyes tightly shut, she furrows her brow.

She can distinguish sounds in the nearby distance, and they're coming closer.

Voices.

Three of them.

No, make that four.

One of them sounds a lot like Harry's.

Harry…

So it must have been a Quidditch accident. The two of them no longer spend any time together outside the sport. They have both chosen different paths since their final break-up, three weeks after the war ended.

She was quite sad and disappointed back then, but now, a few months later, she realises it's for the best. They didn't really have all that much in common, and even though Harry is a sweet boy, in hindsight she does sometimes wonder what she ever saw in him.

It's just another part of growing up, she supposes; no hero stays on a pedestal forever.

She braces herself. She carefully pries one eye open and then another, squinting against the warm, impossibly bright midday sun.

Wait. Is it noon? And summer, too? It was February just… this morning? Wasn't it?

Her head pounds again, harder than it did before, but she forces herself to keep her eyes open.

A face slowly swirls into focus. It resembles Harry's quite uncannily, except for the eyes. They're all wrong; or maybe her vision is somehow distorted. For all she knows, she might be suffering from a concussion.

"H-Harry?" she stammers, surprising herself with how raggedly the words come out.

"Pardon, Miss?" the familiar voice says. "What did you just call me?"

"She thinks you're a 'Harry'," another voice cuts in.

Ginny's vision chooses precisely that moment to return fully.

She gasps when she recognises the face of the second speaker. He is younger than she remembers him, but there is no mistaking those eyes, or that devious grin.

"Y-You're Sirius Black," she blurts out and then her gaze comes to rest on the young man standing next to him. "And you're Prof—I mean, Remus Lupin, and you"—she gestures towards the boy to his left—"are Peter Pettigrew, before he became a proverbial rat as well as a literal one."

Ignoring the indignant mumble, Ginny once again turns to face the boy who looks so much like Harry. "That means you must be James Potter," she puts to him.

He looks more than a little taken aback. "How do you know that?" he asks with a confused frown.

"Because we're famous," Sirius says, "or infamous, depending on the source."

His laughter rings in Ginny's ears until it slowly fades as she loses consciousness again.  
*****  
The next time Ginny awakens, she's lying in an infirmary bed.

She can hear another voice, a woman's. Its tone is stern and laden with accusation.

"It's highly unusual for students to bring a complete stranger into Hogwarts. Not to mention that you gentlemen never should have left the Grounds in the first place. The strong wards and high gates are there for a very good reason. No doubt this outing will have consequences, but I'll leave your punishment up to the Headmaster."

James frowns. "Are you certain she's not enrolled here as a student? She's wearing Gryffindor robes. Maybe we just never noticed her?"

Sirius' chuckle sounds through the room. "Us not notice a pretty girl like that? Yeah. Right. Not bloody likely."

The woman ignores him. "Did it ever occur to you that this might be a trick?" she says. "These are dangerous times, you realise. You-Know-Who…"

Exasperated, because a reference to _Him_ is just about the last thing she needs to hear, Ginny bolts upright and yells, "Voldemort is dead!"

A strange silence settles over the room.

Ginny sinks back against the pillows and sighs. Perhaps, judging from the incredulous looks everyone is giving her, she should have kept her mouth shut.  
*****  
"The girl appears to have little recollection of who she is and where she comes from, and the stories she makes up to mask that fact are far from plausible."

"Maybe she's from the future? She said something about Peter that was a bit—"

"People don't just pop in from the future, Mister Potter. Kindly continue with your essay and for Merlin's sake, do take your feet off your desk."

"Yes, Professor. Sorry, Professor."  
*****  
On the third day, Ginny feels a whole lot better, but not a bit less confused.

Her eyes are still closed when the visitors enter the room, and she prefers to pretend she's still sleeping. She doesn't feel like dealing with more people, more questions.

"So this is the young lady Potter keeps rattling on about," a male voice remarks. It sounds familiar, too, though Ginny can't quite place it yet. "He even got her red roses, I see. How… predictable."

"She certainly is pretty," a female voice pipes up, "and she has red hair, just like me."

"Potter has always been a rather shallow and superficial specimen."

"That's not terribly charitable, Severus."

"Nor was it meant to be, Lily."

Their footsteps fade and Ginny's eyes fly open wide. That was Snape, with Harry's mother.

Ginny swallows hard, and pinches herself in the arm.

It hurts.

_Oh bugger. _

This whole thing would be so much easier to swallow if it were just an extended, albeit extremely vivid nightmare.  
*****  
Ginny's head is spinning when she leaves the Headmaster's office.

Amnesia is a wonderful excuse, though she has to wonder for how long she'll be able to keep up the pretence.

These Professors are no fools.

"Granger," she hears someone call out behind her and it takes her a few seconds to realise that she is, in fact, the one who's being addressed.

She told the staff that her name is Ginny Granger. Mentioning her true surname would have only caused more unnecessary confusion. It'll be awkward enough when she runs into one of her aunts or uncles here, which is bound to happen; the Weasley family is ancient and huge.

She turns around. James is standing there. "Potter," she says. "How do you know my name?"

"Well, you know how it goes," he replies with a grin. "I talk to people. Sometimes I hear things."

"All right." Ginny frowns. "What do you want?"

"Right." He gives her another winning grin. "Seeing how you're new here, you probably don't have a date for the summer dance yet, do you?"

Ginny blinks. "There's a summer dance?"

"Indeed. So what do you say, Miss Granger; fancy accompanying me there?"

Ginny crosses her arms. "But what about Lily?"

He looks taken aback. "Lily?"

"Lily Evans. You carry a torch for her, don't you?"

"Er—" He has the decency to look caught out. "How did you...?"

"You're not the only one who sometimes hears things, Potter."

"Right, er, well—" He nervously clears his throat.

Ginny smirks. Like son, like father, once you've deflated the arrogance.

"Lily and I had a falling out," he finally says. "She's, um, going with… Snape."

Ginny has to stifle a giggle. "I see."

"So, what do you say, Granger? Are you going to knock me back, too? Kick a fellow while he's down?"

"Well," she replies quite seriously, "that rather depends on what your expectations for this date are. I would hate to suddenly wake up one morning and discover I'm really my ex-boyfriend's mother."

He frowns, then blinks. Twice. "That makes absolutely no sense."

"Tell me about it," she says dryly, "but—"

"Yes?"

He looks at her expectantly, and she decides she can't really turn him down. Who knows when she'll be able to return home, or even _if_? She hasn't even figured out how she got here. Perhaps she should just try to make the best of her unusual predicament.

"I suppose a dance or two couldn't do any harm."

He smiles in a way Harry never used to smile at her. "Excellent, Granger."

"Ginny," she tells him.

He frowns.

"Call me Ginny."

"Right. Will do."

He gives a mock bow.

She watches him as he walks out of sight. She feels rather giddy, though her head is no longer spinning.

 

*


End file.
